War

In the final stages of WWII, the occupying Japanese army in the Philippines is rapidly losing ground, facing local resistance combined with an American offensive. The final few Japanese survivors, having almost been wiped out, have crossed the threshold into a realm where there are no friends, no enemies and no God. Special Features: Dual format DVD & BLURAY 1 hour extensive making of New audio commentary by Tom Mes, author of Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto First 1000 copies come with LIMITED EDITION slipcase

War brings out the beast in every man. Afghanistan 1981 and the Soviet Union is locked in a futile and bloody battle with the Mujahedeen guerillas. Separated from their patrol the crew of a Russian T-62 tank engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the local insurgents led by Taj (Steven Bauer). The tyrannical tank commander Daskal (George Dzundza) wreaks havoc on a peaceful Afghani village pushing the moral boundaries of the tank driver Koverchenko (Jason Patric) to the limits. Sensing mutiny the psychotic Daskal abandons the disenchanted tanker to die in the desert at the hand of rebels only to find he's sealed his own fate.

The Warriors combines pure pulp storytelling and surprisingly poetic images into a thoroughly enjoyable cult classic. The plot is mythically pure (and inspired by a legendary bit of Greek history): When a charismatic gang leader is shot at a conclave in the Bronx meant to unite all the gangs in New York City, a troupe from Coney Island called the Warriors get blamed and have to fight all the way back to their own turf--which means an escalating series of battles with colorful and improbable gangs like the Baseball Furies, who wear baseball uniforms and KISS-inspired face make-up. Pop existentialism, performances that are somehow both wooden and overwrought, and zesty, kinetic filmmaking from director Walter Hill (Southern Comfort, 48 Hrs.) result in a delicious and unexpectedly resonant operatic cheesiness. --Bret Fetzer

Thematically ambitious and emotionally complex, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers is an intimate epic with much to say about war and the nature of heroism in America. Based on the non-fiction bestseller by James Bradley (with Ron Powers), and adapted by Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis (Jarhead screenwriter William Broyles Jr. wrote an earlier draft that was abandoned when Eastwood signed on to direct), this isn't so much a conventional war movie as it is a thought-provoking meditation on our collective need for heroes, even at the expense of those we deem heroic. In telling the story of the six men (five Marines, one Navy medic) who raised the American flag of victory on the battle-ravaged Japanese island of Iwo Jima on February 23rd, 1945, Eastwood takes us deep into the horror of war (in painstakingly authentic Iwo Jima battle scenes) while emphasizing how three of the surviving flag-raisers (played by Adam Beach, Ryan Phillippe, and Jesse Bradford) became reluctant celebrities - and resentful pawns in a wartime publicity campaign - after their flag-raising was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal in the most famous photograph in military history. As the surviving flag-raisers reluctantly play their public roles as "the heroes of Iwo Jima" during an exhausting (but clearly necessary) wartime bond rally tour, Flags of Our Fathers evolves into a pointed study of battlefield valor and misplaced idolatry, incorporating subtle comment on the bogus nature of celebrity, the trauma of battle, and the true meaning of heroism in wartime. Wisely avoiding any direct parallels to contemporary history, Eastwood allows us to draw our own conclusions about the Iwo Jima flag-raisers and how their postwar histories (both noble and tragic) simultaneously illustrate the hazards of exploited celebrity and society's genuine need for admirable role models during times of national crisis. Flags of Our Fathers defies the expectations of those seeking a more straightforward war-action drama, but it's richly satisfying, impeccably crafted film that manages to be genuinely patriotic (in celebrating the camaraderie of soldiers in battle) while dramatising the ultimate futility of war. Eastwood's follow-up film, Letters from Iwo Jima, examines the Iwo Jima conflict from the Japanese perspective. Critically hailed as an instant classic, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima is a masterwork of uncommon humanity and a harrowing, unforgettable indictment of the horrors of war. In an unprecedented demonstration of worldly citizenship, Eastwood (from a spare, tightly focused screenplay by first-time screenwriter Iris Yamashita) has crafted a truly Japanese film, with Japanese dialogue (with subtitles) and filmed in a contemplative Japanese style, serving as both complement and counterpoint to Eastwood's previously released companion film Flags of Our Fathers. Where the earlier film employed a complex non-linear structure and epic-scale production values to dramatise one of the bloodiest battles of World War II and its traumatic impact on American soldiers, Letters reveals the battle of Iwo Jima from the tunnel- and cave-dwelling perspective of the Japanese, hopelessly outnumbered, deprived of reinforcements, and doomed to die in inevitable defeat. While maintaining many of the traditions of the conventional war drama, Eastwood extends his sympathetic touch to humanise "the enemy," revealing the internal and external conflicts of soldiers and officers alike, forced by circumstance to sacrifice themselves or defend their honour against insurmountable odds. From the weary reluctance of a young recruit named Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) to the dignified yet desperately anguished strategy of Japanese commander Tadamichi Kuribayashi (played by Oscar-nominated The Last Samurai costar Ken Watanabe), whose letters home inspired the film's title and present-day framing device, Letters from Iwo Jima (which conveys the bleakness of battle through a near-total absence of colour) steadfastly avoids the glorification of war while paying honorable tribute to ill-fated men who can only dream of the comforts of home. --Jeff Shannon

Kelly's Heroes reunited Clint Eastwood with his Where Eagles Dare director Brian G Hutton, then added The Dirty Dozen star Telly Savalas in MGM's quest to turn WWII movie celluloid into box office gold three times running. The result, a sprawling adventure about a group of soldiers led by Kelly (Eastwood) on a private mission behind enemy lines to recover a cache of Nazi treasure, echoed its predecessors but wasn't as successful. While Where Eagle's Dare was somewhat tongue in cheek, Kelly's Heroes went for a cynical comic amorality with many plot parallels to 1969's The Italian Job, written by screenwriter Troy Kennedy-Martin the year before. Donald Sutherland, who also starred in the big-screen M*A*S*H (1970), plays a hippie tank commander decades before his time, and it's hard not to see both movies as more commentaries on Vietnam than on the wars in which they were ostensibly set. Though it is intermittently very funny, and despite some expertly staged action, Kelly's Heroes never really convinces as satire or adventure. On the DVD: Kelly's Heroes is presented on disc in a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer which is immaculate and taken from a virtually perfect master. The images are so clean and sharp they look brand new, outclassing many current theatrical prints. The three-channel sound concentrates most of the action to the centre speaker but does an excellent job of capturing the often turbulent soundtrack. The only real extra is the original trailer, presented anamorphically at 1.77:1.--Gary S Dalkin

Lance Bombardier Terry Evans (David Warner) is about to be sent home for officer selection and training. All he has to do is make it through one more night, in charge of a small guard detachment....Young and ineffectual, Evans is not respected by the national servicemen he commands. Flynn (Ian Holm) doubts his decisions while cockney Featherstone (John Thaw) is filled with contempt for him. Gunner O'Rourke (Nicol Williamson) is openly insubordinate - at first. Very quickly, it becomes obvious that O'Rourke is going mad - and that army discipline shatters when confronted by someone very dangerous and with nothing left to lose...

The men of Bravo Company are facing a battle that's all uphill... up Hamburger Hill. Fourteen war-weary soldiers are battling for a mud-covered mound of earth so named because it chews up soldiers like chopped meat. They are fighting for their country their fellow soldiers and their lives. War is hell but this is worse. Hamburger Hill tells it the way it was the way it really was. It's a raw gritty and totally unrelenting dramatic depiction of one of the fiercest battles of America's bloodiest war. Dodge the gunfire. Get caught behind enemy lines. Go into battle beside the brave young men who fought and died. Feel their desperation and futility. This happened. Hamburger Hill - war at its worst men at their best.

Henry V is one of Shakespeare's most compelling historical plays. Early in the play Henry sets out to press his claim to the Crown of France. His small expedition encounters vastly superior French forces at Agincourt and there Henry delivers his famous exhortation to the soldiers. His army victorious the King visits the French Court where he meets and marries Catherine of Valois thereby establishing the beginning of a promising alliance with France.

The Black Death is wiping out the population of Europe as Antonius Block a knight returns disillusioned from the Crusades. Death appears before him but asking for a chance to live he proposes a game of chess whilst around him society collapses and religion becomes fervent and zealous. Long acclaimed as a cinematic masterpiece 'The Seventh Seal' is a stunning allegory of man's search for meaning in life.

In 1974 a misguided 19 year old decided he wanted to make a name for himself and so armed with a sawn-off shotgun and a head full of dreams he attempted to rob a post office. Swiftly apprehended and originally sentenced to 7 years in jail Michael Peterson has subsequently been behind bars for 34 years and transformed into Charles Bronson Britain's most notorious prisoner. For this controversial but critically acclaimed film from director Nicolas Winding Refn (the Pusher trilogy) Tom Hardy physically transformed himself for the role and gives a performance described by The Sun as utterly brilliant.

Echoing the sentiments of Schindler's List Auschwitz is a hard-hitting but respectful war film which shows life as it really was at the death camp. Including documentary footage controversial German director Uwe Boll (Rampage Darfur) says 50% of the German population doesn't know anything about the Holocaust. When I realized that there were many people who deny the Holocaust or who had a distorted point of view about it I decided to make this movie and get straight to the point without any metaphors.

The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history set up by the Nazis in 1936. Salomon Sally Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards booze and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog (Devid Striesow). Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival he once again comes face to face with Herzog who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Berhard. The team which also includes detainee Adolf Burger (August Diehl) is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany's allied opponents Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to do something to stop Operation Bernhard's aid to the war effort. Faced with a moral dilemma Salomon must decide whether his actions which could prolong the war and risk the lives of fellow prisoners are ultimately the right ones.

With a company of American soldiers trapped by the Germans during The Battle of the Bulge their captain is an abject psychopathic coward who has a record of exposing his men to danger. When his cowardice turns to sheer panic during combat it becomes necessary for the enlisted men to take things into their own hands...

In 1952 a young medical student and a biochemist from Argentina set off on a road trip across South America. As they straddled their beaten up motorcycle the men talked in awed tones of the sights they were about to experience. The record of their trip may have disappeared into the ether if one of the riders departing on that fateful day hadn't been the future insurrectionary figurehead of the Cuban revolution Ernesto Che Guevara (played here by Gael Garcia Bernal). The young Che's companion on the trip was his best friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) with their simple goals being to enjoy themselves and meet some girls along the way. As the trip unfolds at the behest of their spluttering motorcycle the boys discover more about themselves than they ever imagined possible. Ernesto clings tightly to his ideals throughout and delights in the opportunity to put them into practice. His refusal to spend the provided by his girlfriend Chichina Ferreyra (Mia Maestro) constantly angers his travelling companion as the two succumb to pangs of hunger. Ernesto's charitable nature comes to the fore when he reveals that he gave the money to a pair of out-of-work illegal immigrants. The trip winds down as the friends offer their medical expertise to a leper colony in Peru with the duo's youthful folly acquiescing to adulthood and the dawning realization of where they should head in life.

Directed by Sir Richard Attenborough and starring Robert Downey Jr and an extraordinary cast 'Chaplin' is a loving grand-scale portrait of the Little Tramp's amazing life and times. His poverty-stricken childhood in England comes to life along with his friendships with Mack Sennett (Dan Aykroyd) and Douglas Fairbanks (Kevin Kline) his many wives and scandalous affairs and his relentless pursuit by J. Edgar Hoover. Chaplin is the larger-than-life story of the actor behind the icon and a stunning depiction of a bygone era when Hollywood was at its most glamorous.

A devastating story of war and a generation destroyed. In 1914 a group of German schoolboys idealistic and inflamed with youthful patriotism set off to fight in the ""glorious"" war. During their brutal basic training disenchantment begins. Then boarding a train for the front they see the wounded being rushed back to the hospitals and they begin to grasp the grim reality of war. On their first night in action they come under heavy attack. In the trenches they begin to fall. Thei

Based on the true story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold's superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean's career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson's Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984). On the DVD: Too often the best extras come attached to films that don't really warrant them. Not so here, where a truly great film has been given the attention it deserves. The first disc presents the film in the original extra-wide CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, in an anamorphically enhanced transfer which does maximum justice to the film's superb cinematography. The sound has been transferred from the original six-track magnetic elements into 5.1 Dolby Digital and far surpasses what many would expect from a 1950s' feature. The main bonus on the first disc is an isolated presentation of Malcolm Arnold's great Oscar-winning music score, in addition to which there is a trivia game, and maps and historical information linked to appropriate clips. The second disc contains a new, specially produced 53-minute "making of" documentary featuring many of those involved in the production of the movie. This gives a rich insight into the physical problems of making such a complex epic on location in Ceylon. Also included are the original trailer and two short promotional films from the time of release, one of which is narrated by star William Holden. Finally there is an "appreciation" by director John Milius, an extensive archive of movie posters and artwork, and a booklet that reproduces the text of the film's original 1957 brochure. --Gary S Dalkin

Sergeant Tom Highway (Eastwood) a hardened veteran of Korea and Vietnam campaigns returns to the United States for his last tour of duty with the U.S. Marine Corps and has to shape up a ragtag band of soldiers ready for the onset of war...

Napoleonic forces are sweeping across Europe and Spain is on the brink of falling to the mighty invasion. Standing alone against the onslaught is one brave fighter and his ragtag band of guerillas. Seizing a gigantic cannon Spanish fighter Miguel (Sinatra) plans to attack Napoleon's army by battering the walls of French-occupied Avila. But because he's untrained in complex weaponry he must rely on the expertise of Captain Trumbell (Grant) a British naval officer. Allies on the

From the director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire comes a masterpiece of terror. Starring Kerry Fox Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor this hermetically sealed shocker will take you on a fantastic ride that's riddled with hairpin turns. Juliet David and Alex find that their new reclusive roommate has not left the bedroom for days. After kicking in the door they discover this drug overdosed corpse... and a suitcase full of cash. Fatefully choosing to keep the money they know they have to get rid of the body. But the remains won't stay buried and a careless trail from the shallow grave leads the police and two money-hungry thugs-back to the trio. As the stakes get higher so does the body count not to mention their paranoia which is quickly putting their friendship in jeopardy...forever!